I posted this on /tg/ a year ago, i want to see how your views have changed:

you have just killed the 3 lamia and as you search among there odd bed rooms you find a small child lamia curled up under one of the bed shivering. It sees you and shivers more tears flowing down its face, whimpering something in a language you cant understand. With mixed emotions knowing that you just killed its family you leave, only to be stopped by a small tug and a tiny but hard to understand voice "don't want to be alone" the half snake child exclaims in accent that sounds like its coming from a snake.

this is the current situation of my party, all extremely mixed emotions. Some want to take it along, others want to revive the lamia they had just killed, while one wants to kill it, fear of it one day killing them in revenge. What would you do

I don't attack a monster's house without the express intention of killing every living thing in side, minus maybe captive humanoids.

I give exactly jack shit for what the rest of my men think. We don't take this fucking animal with us, we don't revive the fucking things we just killed, and we're definitely burning this shit down. If it survives, fine. I'm not being paid by the belt, I'm being paid by the burning snake den. If I catch any of my men sneaking about with cages full of mice, they die as a matter of course.

Exactly what I was thinking. There was probably a reason for me to kill the other snakes, might as well kill this one for the same reason. That and the fact that I just killed it's parents in front of it, and I can't take it along (it would want revenge, it would be creepy and strange) so I might as well just mercykill it.

>>15156648Before I can answer that, I need to know a few things.>WHY did we kill the 3 lamia?>Where are the Lamia as a race to playe in this setting on the morality scale from "Nicest guys in the world that will donate you two kidneys" to "Sickes fucks in the multiverse, beyond redemption and ENJOYING it."?>Where were the three Lamias on this scale?

Why did I kill the family with my party in the first place OP? Did they try to eat me? Did they attack me? Are they evil and have been hurting people? I can't answer such a question without knowing the rest of this.

>>15156827funny how the last thread didnt ask that, but everyone else is. The lamia are "queens" of a lizard kin clan (varying from lizardfolk to salamanders etc etc) a nearby village is having problems with them, calling them pests and claiming that they had attacked villagers and travelers.

>>15156864Next, has my party been hired to deal with the situation? We would probably try to solve the matter peacefully if possible, and find out why they are attacking villagers, or if the reverse is happening, and if that didn't work, I guess we would have to use force

know that your parents died for the evil they did unto my world.If you want to come and kill me one day, I will let you try, for revenge is a noble goal. But if you follow the path they did...I... will come...for you.

Then honestly, I would have tried to reason and create a truce between the two towns.

If they would not listen to reason, and we ended up in this situation, then I would take the Lamia. She is young, and could learn new ways. After a few years, I would bring her back to lead the lizardfolk well, so that they could live peacefully with the other town.

>>15156845I guess my party has charged in and started killing without a second thought then.The only possible response is to kill the party with my mace, while shouting "SMITE EVIL! SMITE EVIL!"Then take the child and return it to its kin. Then destroy its kin if necessary. Without survivors, this time.

>>15156864Only the weak. Do you know what you do to the fallen and the weak? You put them down like the crazed animals they are.

We burst into the Naga's den and slaughter the family? We're the bad guys.

Assuming this is an evil campaign, mercy would not be the proper answer. In fact, it would be more evil to keep it, raise it as my vicious pet. Mercilessly sculpt it into my attack dog which I have to keep on a chain leash, so it doesn't murder anyone without my permission..

But I really dislike that scenario. It's too cruel, to vile.

Assuming we're misled good guys, adopt it and then find a good home for it. Pledge a chunk of my treasure and valuables as reparations to the poor creature and eventually try and find a related clan or family of lamia willing to take the poor thing in..

Find a way to repent somewhere down the road... Then punch my GM in the face for clubbing us over the head with the emotional guilt card. Then punch the other players for being so gung ho about murdering everything that so much as glances their way.

>>15156996>be liche>go out a-killin' for some bodies>find chilluns>they have weak bodies, and cry about the lack of parents>Raise them why not>Legions of obedient soldiers who ALSO want to murder me in secret, but can't do it when their siblings are around

As long as I keep several ones with INDIPENDANT murder plots as my guards, I don't have to worry about any one of them making a move. Also, I find this situation amazing.

>Take orphaned harpy baby to the nearest good-aligned temple, figuring it's as innocent as it acts, so they will raise it in some decent way.>Cleric of Ehlonna kills it on sight and throws me out of town... Because the DM was a fucking prick.

Back on topic, in DnD, Lamias are specifically humans who were wicked enough to become cursed to their particular form, they don't breed.

Yuan-Ti certainly fit the body type of what you're presuming to be a Lamia, and they breed naturally, but they would only hunt you more enthusiastically and kill you more painfully if they found out you killed a family AND kidnapped their child.

Constrictor Beastfolk slightly fit the bill, but they're true neutral, and stay way the fuck away from human lands, so why the fuck were you killing them?

Or it's a Lilend, a fucking celestial being in which case you're probably an evil fuck anyway.

we're gonna need more information about the lamia's you present op, since they seem to be the snake people version and not the ones from the monster manual. are they naturally evil or is it more of a "nurture" thing? are they inheritely dangerous for normal people to be around? give us more

though personally i would take the kid with me. i once had a paladin of bahamut that killed a red dragon and took the egg to care for himself. ember ended up being lawful good (admittedly still rough around the edges, but i got him to set fire to bad guys instead of good guys and innocents) and ended up starting a merchant empire by selling his cast off scales to make dragoncraft armor

Also needs more details, op. what happened in between agreeing to help villagers, and the lamia slaughter-fest. Did they rush out and fight an epic battle against the party, or did the they get mercilessly beat down and stabbed?

>>15156864>a nearby village is having problems with them, calling them pests and claiming that they had attacked villagers and travelers.>calling them pests and claiming that they had attacked villagers and travelers.>claiming

I would either take it with me, or revive its family and leave it with them.

-only one wants to kill it out of fear. Easily ignored but I'd keep an eye on 'em just in case they try anything.

-revive Lamia... restrain their corpses then revive them so that they'll be alive, but contricted and easy to kill. Let the interigation commence maybee even use the child as incentive. No matter the responce someone is gonna die. Lamia for their deeds or the townsfolk for waisting my time.

Although if it was the townsfolk over-reaction I might just kill their leaders, or beat them up or somethign and negotiate somethign between the 2. Maybee take over.

Simple: Kill it.Not even worth it: Ignore it.Someone else's problem: Take it and drop it off somewhere monster-girl friendly.Unquestionable badass: Take it with you and make it no secret that you're training it to try to kill you someday.Needlessly cruel: Take it, and be nice for a bit. Kill her later.Even more needlessly cruel: Kill all other reptile-folk. Make her watch. Kick her in the stomach and walk away.Proffit!: Take her. Sell her into slavery.Backstabbing: Take it with you and raise it. Secretly tell her that one of your comrades killed her parents.Magic, LOL: Erase her memories. Raise her as your own.

I didn't even think about using it to get rid of someone I don't like! I guess thats why I didn't even consider chaotic evil as my alignment

But Honsetly the WTF look on people when I do things is worth it. I fought a long range battle while standing in a river and getting knocked away a couple feet then wading back to the same spot to fire again. Note that If I moved foward 1 foot I would of been out of the river. OIh yeah the river led to a waterfall too. I won that fight ^_^

I'd kill it. If I killed the three lamias, that means that they were evil and deserved to be put down. I'm not going to resurrect them and I'm not going to raise the child of a sentient being I just killed, it would be utterly moronic.

Poly the Lamia girl into a Human girl, and after a sufficiently long period of getting to know her and ensuring that we have compatible personalities, develop a mutually romantic relationship, that eventually results in a consensual sexual experience in the missionary position that is enjoyable for both parties. Fade-to-black, of course.

>>15157854>make vitriolic indiscriminate personal attacks>attacks are proven wrong before they are made>use more hatewords in hopes that the resulting emotional state will distract people from being logicalYour plan has failed.

Same answer that comes up in any such situation: Kill it. >THATS SO MEAN! OMG UR EVIL!Not really, taking a fucking sentient creature as your pet is worse. Not only that if you leave it alive it may very well tell all of its other snakepeople friends what you did and they'll come after you.

If you leave it alone it starves to death slowly, which is also worse.

Final Solution: Quick death, no more suffering. Anything else is idealistic crap that is both dangerous in the long run or a simple act of moral wankery.

>>15158075My paladin would disagree on the moral wankery part. Also, I'd imagine that it would be more along the lines of adopting a child than taking in a pet. It is a sentient creature capable of speech.

Fuck, I just realized that I'm on teegee, that wouldn't stop a lot of the people here from treating it as a lower lifeform.

Nonsense, I don't need a pet. It would be my apprentice. The best solution to inter-species violence is peaceful trade, and being trained by a human might give her opportunities for something other than raiding in the future, and perhaps introduce the trade to others of her kind.

tl;dr: not all monsters the PCs keep will be pets. Most will be cohorts of some sort instead.

>>15158075Asexual actually. I don't think it really matters... but I have trouble recalling a persons appearance anyway so It never really came up. A person is a person is a person. If I see you I might recall you, or I might not depending on how much I think its worth recalling you. Generally most people aren't worth recalling.

>>15158075i don't think it would be a pet, and you shouldn't punish something for a crime it's yet to commit. you take it somewhere safe, try to teach it to be a good person, if it still goes and tries to kill people, you do what you must, you gave it its chance

Personal Assistant: Train the lamia to be your squire/assistant. Fighting a ranged battle in the middle of a river? Wouldn't that be easier if there was a small lamia holding a shield in front of you and handing you more arrows, etc?Let's try diplomacy: Resurrect lamias. Restrain them. Try talking this time.What the hell?: Claim that you are now "Queen of the Lizardmen". Kill anyone who disagrees.

>>15157888Trolling mode: Ensure baby lamia wants revenge, but use mind-reading to figure out her targets before she tries to kill them.Bale poly the target into that of one of the girl's parents, and have the target permanently shapeshifted into whoever they were before.Whenever the baby lamia kills someone, TADA! It reverts to it's true form, that of one of her parents, and she's looking at her dead mommy/daddy with wounds that -she- inflicted.

Set up a contingency that, whenever the baby lamia tries to kill -you-, she's teleported back in time to when your party sacked the Lamia den - but with roles reversed.I.e. She and the other 3 Lamia are attacking the den. 3 of your party members are trying to defend it.Set it up so that her 3 companions and your 3 companions all die, with her as the last survivor.Searching the odd bedrooms, she finds You, curled up under one of the beds shivering. With mixed emotions knowing that she just killed your party, you stop her with a small tug and a tiny but hard to understand "don't want to be alone".

The flashback then reverts: The dead party members become dead Lamia, the dead Lamia become living party members, and she finds herself in -your- shoes, looking down at herself when she was an infant.If she opted to kill the infant, she sees the wounds that she inflicted on her own (younger) body.

Obviously this contingency was NOT real, and was just a triggered memory, that gave you enough time to escape whatever Stab-you-in-the-stabby-bits attack she had aimed at you.You then capture her.Bind her.And force her to relive that flashback/memory/contingency over and over and over for as long as you feel is necessary to teach her that trying to kill you is a VERY bad idea.:-)

Well, I'm gonna go by the standard I usually set for Humanoids: "Can they talk? If so they can be reasoned with. If they can be reasoned with they must be driven by something. That Drive is making them "evil" not the species itself."

So I'd take it.Raise it.Treat it like a daughter or a sister.If it gets older and sassier when he/she becomes I'll just point out that their original parents were killed because of this this and this and if I had left them in their care you would have had a similar fate or raped etc or eaten.

But this of course means I'd have to stop adventuring and become a Dad.

>>15158125>if it still goes and tries to kill people, you do what you must, you gave it its chanceLets give a predatorial monster a chance to eat more people! Who cares if it adapts its natural hostile stance and goes on a rampage, several dead people is better than killing one!

On a non-sarcastic note: Lamira are NOT people. They are monsters by definition. If you killed a bunch of people I would vouch for the mercy of a child, but these are naturally hostile and prey on people. If they were able to think and exist as we do then they obviously wouldn't be Chaotic Evil by default (if they did think like us having Mercy on a child isn't going to undo your genocide of possibly benevolent people). Apparently people are thinking that anything human-like is going to think just like us, which is funny considering Orcs are free game to most players.

>>15158184Once your Lamia has been sufficiently mindbroken into not trying to kill anyone, sell it on the slave market to a sex den.Buy the infants produced as a result. Don't do anything harmful to them, but teach them to play "Attack on the snake den", a children's game of capture the flag wherein an attacking party has to raid the snake den, capture the "helpless baby" therein, and bring her back safely. The Helpless baby must be roleplayed by an adult.

Proceed to make trollface.jpg as the Lamia's children pester her to play "Snake den" with them, saying "mommy, you can be the scared baby".

>>15158205>stop adventuring and become a Dadsince when are they exclusive? give her a crossbow (poison optional) so she can help out and if you have to go fight super dangerous stuff stick her somewhere safe (rod of security if you've got the gold, good aligned friends/church you trust if you don't)

This. In our setting every race has some degree of civility capable but in this situation we were likely provoked and the child is the unwitting victim. We'd adopt him/her and some day when we're forced to explain what we did, we'd say it bluntly.

"Not ever person you meet is easy to talk to, and sometimes it's kill or be killed. The hardest part about it isn't the loss, but those left behind to go on without the loved one. And no amount of apologizing fixes that."

>>15158260Well, the thing is, we don't know that they are always Chaotic Evil in the setting. If they aren't, then even though the child might resent you, it would be pretty nasty to just kill her. Of course, the group seems to be playing murder-hobo kind of characters, so that's probably not going to stop them.>>15158274Have to agree with this man, that is textbook evil, the sort that warrants severe, extended testicular trauma.

Naturally I spare the child and raise her. Then in the far future, after saving a bro from a giant metal golem that shoots fireballs, I confess how whenever I looked at the child I saw her dead parents staring back at me.

And btw, bro, she poisoned you because of that fight we had a long time ago.

>>15158480ok so keep the kid at your base of opperations where they can help out but stay out of combat, so they feel useful but are still safe (plus he/she could get training), get some teleportation magic, teleport between the base and wherever you need to go, use a ring of sustenance to get only two hours of sleep a day and adventure while being a dad. you wouldn't adventure nearly as much but you could still get out there and help your comrades

For the butthurts who want more explanation to this, i know its kind of late but oh well

You have been hired to wipe out a ruined castle filled with a lizard kin clan (its varys from lizardfolk to salamanders to anything else with scales). The people who hired you tell you that they hare pest and have attacked villagers and travelers. If you try to do a sense motive you rolled a natural 1, so you believe in what they say and head off storming the castle. As soon as you enter the creatures attack you and you defend. Eventually clearing a path to the 3 lamia queens who the people who hired you told you to kill. As soon as you enter they intermediately attack you as well, causing you to defend yourself and kill them off. After you loot the them and the room there in and find a little lamia child curled up under one of the serpents beds shivering, its unknown how much it know about what just happen but it does seem scared. It looks up at you as you stare a bit slowly uncoiling and slither toward you in an nonthreatening way. As she comes out and sees her kin dead she looks up to you and says in a tiny but hard to understand voice “want to leave, but dont want to be alone” Doing a sense motive you also roll a 1 so its unknown if she has intention to kill you as she grows up, What do you do?

This assumes that you know nothing that your bad luck rolls made you ignorant up to the point of findting this child and just now your having doubts if what you did was a good thing or not. I hope this clears up what you need to know

>>15158647Lamias live birth. Their upper half is a human and their lower half is a snake. They are not poisonous. They are mostly carnivorous, and can eat meat raw or cooked. They are extremely prone to scurvy.

>>15156648I do now as I did then: spare it. I carry it, care for it, try to teach it the ways of Good and Life. I raise it to be confident, capable, and as wise as I can manage.If after all that She Wants Revenge, then I accede, and we will duel.My comrades won't have a complaint; if they do, they can get stuffed. I provide healing, FoM, DW, and the glorious pulverization of the Undead without an unkind word or demand of payment.

I was already set on raising the baby, but now it's a 100% yes on the raising of the baby.

Just was worried about it doing anything weird like come puberty it starts laying fucking unfertalized eggs every few weeks or is liable to fucking kill me when it's giving me kisses good night or something.

You kneel down, flex your arm and your daughter slithers over and coils around your bicep. You proceed to flex and lift her up while grunting a "Hoo-yah". She giggles and applauds your strength before hugging your neck and giving something you've started calling "hissy kissies".

You're walking home with the groceries from the market. Your daughter tired from a long day out on the town is coiled around your leg and nuzzling up against your thigh. You don't want her to look up your kilt and thus shake your leg a little, "Sweety get off my big man leg- your a big girl." She coils around tighter and burries her face into your thigh, "I'ma snake-skin boot- boot, boot, boot."

You don't have the heart to tell her boots don't make the boot noise and decide to leave her as is.

>>15159370I'm not...just got some trail dust in my eye.I'm gonna go sweep out her last moltings, keep the house tidy....maybe hit the inn, relax with some mead...*wake up hungover on the temple steps clutching a tear-soaked baby-blanket*

Your Hair is matted against your face with a mix of blood and your sweat- the first not being your own. The hall echoes with the sound of your hard breaths coming in and out as you calm yourself in the room you had just freshly bisected the previous owners of.

You drop your blood drenched axe, reach up to pull off your animal skin cloak, and let the cold air hit your face while you allow yourself to finally collect your thoughts and the loot of these reptilian humanoids.

You hear the door creak open before you see it. Your battled toned reflexes kick in: you pick your axe up, lean over, grit your teeth then let out an intimidating hollar as you ready yourself once more.

The sound of a child crying is heard and a small lamian child sticks her head out of the door, "No, no don't want to be alone- No shiny, no drop!". She bawls and your paternal instincts kick in and your veiny, red, worked hands drop the axe.

You didn't know Lamians could cry.

You didn't know you could feel pity.

The axe clangs against the cold stone floor and the lamian's body shivers and coils up. You slowly approach her and kneel over.

Your strong, scared arms extend towards her shivering little body and you pick her up and cradle her against your chest.

>>15159482I picture this nameless hero skipping the post-battle victory party. He goes home early, strange little treasure shivering under his cloak, and stays up all night trying to understand just what's going on.

You're sitting in the bath with your daughter after a long summer day of sweating, swearing, yard work, and child-care.

She's content with slithering around playfully in the marble tub- a rather boyant daughter you've seemed to have raised. That is until she gets a good long look at your body for the first time as you non-chalantly stretch to scratch your armpit.

Your flesh is a mural of scars.

You notice her tiny emerald eyes looking you over and you immidietly cover your genitals, "Something interesting?"

She points to a series of large marble sized dots around your neck, "whats that?".You smirk, "Chimera- left arm was a hippo's mouth."She points to your left shoulder where a jagged slash and you respond, "giant mantis- I spun around and cut his arm and pelvis in half."

Then to the underside of your nipple a little dot, "Iron Beaked woodpecker- pulled it out and snapped it's neck."

She smiled and giggled a little and slithered over to your muscular frame and rests her hand on your face akwardly groping your right cheek.

You pull her off, blow air against her stomach to produce a sound imitating flatulance, "Got in a knife fight with an orc- I broke his arm and pushed him off a bridge with my foot."

After she finished giggling she smiled and looked down at your leg as it dipped out of the water, "What about that one daddy? That long red one that wrappppppsspspspspsssssss around your legs?" She giggled- amused by the octagon like patterns on it.

>>"What about that one daddy? That long red one that wrappppppsspspspspsssssss around your legs?" She giggled- amused by the octagon like patterns on it.OH FUCK. Uh..."dire octopus warlord. He had this weird flexible mail all over. Tried to haul me in and bite off my foot!" *hoist her up, nom on the tip of her tail in imitation*

"Am I sssssssissisissisick?""No.""Am I falling apart?!?""No.""Am I going bald?!?!!?!!!?""NO, for heaven's SAKE.""Are you mad daddy?"

Your daughter whipered as she laid in your lap upside down tail in the air and her arms on your thighs as you pulled off her shedding. You sigh and blow the hair out of your face as you hold up your daughter's tail, "no, no I'm not mad. We've already been through this; you're shedding, it's normal."

Your daughter winces and you finally manage to wrap your hands around the rim of the "whole" cast off. She wraps her small hands around your legs and you tilt your head towards her, "are you ready sweet pea?" she nods and puckers her lips "do it dad- I'ma dragon- a DRAGON!"

You both start shouting 'dragon' as your arms flex and the cast off skin begines to peel off revealing the bright emerald and teal reflective scales of your beautiful daughter's tail.

Your daughter lays there as she becomes familiarized with her new skin; you holding the two foot'ish cast off. You grin and playfully dangle it over her face, bouncing it up and down near her mouth.

"This is the part where you eat it."

"Ew, Dad! No!"

You grin and let out a hearty laugh as you bounce the shed skin up and down, "C'mon it's full of calcium!!!"

Make a big show of arguing with the other players and demanding that we take her with us. If they attack her, kill them, brutally. Befriend her and raise her as if she were my own child. Then if she wants revenge on anyone, it's them rather than me. Not my problem.

I helped her, which was my first instinct. I found a way for that to benefit me. I would've helped her even if I couldn't find a way to make it benefit me, but I do love it when a plan comes together.

Finally she looks at you. "Was it all out of guilt, then? Did you ever really love me?"

You meet her gaze. "...I didn't think I would at first. I always grew up thinking your kind was cruel and self-serving. You showed me otherwise. For the first time, you made me think about why I was swinging a sword."

"Answer the question."

"I do love you. As far as I'm concerned, you are my daughter. I've never experienced anything more rewarding than raising you."

She looks back toward the fire. Then: "I'm going to need some time. All right?"

You look at the horse.You look at your daughter.She looks at the horse.The horse looks at the ground.

She turns, jaw set, arms bent, muscles tensing, cheeks flaming. So much like you."Daddy! No laughing!"

You look at the horse and swear, "I promise sweetpea, no laughing."

The horse rolls it's eyes.

It's late afternoon, tempers as are hot as the falling red sun.

She slithers warily towards the side of the overly-nonchalant looking horse."Now sweety, again: one hand on the saddle horn."She reaches."Other hand on the bridle."She grabs."Coil up..."She crouches."When I say go, pull and spring up.....aaaand GO!"

*****She's splayed on the ground again, tail thrashing, arms pounding, an entire new dictionary of adolescent frustration and bedeviled ambition being yelled at the grazing horse.

You're as good as your word. You don't laugh.The corners of your mouth twitch up, you snort, choking down a guffaw that'd cause a week of sulking.But as you squat, waiting for her tantrum to blow over, you aren't laughing.

How old is she supposed to be at this point? is this one of those "Youre 16, you're an adult today. I know you've always wanted me to tell you about your parents. Well sit down, ive got something to tell you..."

She puffs her cheeks out, looks away."I-"You cut her off, "it's that damn horses fault. Look at him!"You cup your hands into an impromptu bullhorn, "you call yourself a Druid!? I've seen more animal spirit in a sack of moldy potatos!"

Her tail slaps angrily into your leg."Daaaaad! You cheated!"You raise your hands in mock surrender"Hey, hey. I was worried about you being safe. And that..." the horse gives you a loud, mocking whinny, "seemed like a safe way to get some practice in."You turn to the horse."Not a sure waste of 12 good bits."The horse turns away.Raises it's tail in faux salute.You turn your head, unwilling to give him the satisfaction.The resultant plopping is clearly audible.

Frak... damn morality quests. Take her with you, if she's small enough to hide under the bed, then she's young enough to forget you slaughtered her family when she grows up. and be extra nice to her compared to the other players, so if they turn against you, you have an ally. also, can have the "friends with benefits" situation later on.

She stood over the freshly dug grave, her eyes still red from crying. A hand reached out to rest on her shoulder, and she turned around to see her father's closest friend."I...take it you've read your father's letter." He said, seemingly unsure of what to say.

She nodded solemnly. "Why... didn't he ever tell me? I deserved to know about my real parents." she said, her voice full of pain and sorrow.

"And, what if he had? Would you have hated him? Do you hate him even now?" He asked. He paused briefly, "He really did love you, you know that, right?"

"Yes. I just...I just don't know what to do. There's so many questions I wish I could ask. Were you...there...that day..." Her voice trailed off. She could barely remember, but it had always been there, gnawing away at the edge of her memories. That day, all she could remember was fear.

"No, I didn't go with them." It was impossible to tell if he was lying. "He was a changed man after he found you. Your father was one of the best mercenaries in the business before that day. I just hope he was as good a father as he was a fighter."

"He was..." she said choking back tears.

I'm sorry. I wish there was more I could do for you." He knelt to lay the flowers he was holding before the tombstone.

"I'll be fine. It's just something I'll have to work through on my own." She said, taking one last look at her father's grave.

Really? I admit it's a good idea, but the father death thing is such a played out thing. I think it's because doing so means that you don't have to worry about writing the dialog between the two people. Which is fucking hard to do, surely; but I like the idea of the old merc finally telling her. You gotta think it would be eating him alive inside, poor guy probably saw three dead lamia every time the little girl smiled up at him.

I can't write, but I have an idea. The Lamia daughter was killed while her adoptive father was away on an errand. He had never told her the truth. He talks to himself over her grave, trying to decide whether or not to go and kill the bastard who took his daughter from him.

Now you laugh, eyes screwed shut, tears leaking down your scarred cheeks. You fall to one dusty knee, ribs aching, gasping for air.

You barely hear the grinding whisper of her indignant departure.

****

She's sitting up before her vanity, combing out the tangles of her freshly-washed hair.You knock."Daddy." Her tone is chiding."Yeah, sweetpea?""You are such a..a...dad!"You choke back a snigger with no small effort.She sniffs, and turns back to the vanity.You squeeze her shoulders, and place a kiss on her damp crown."Goodnight, pumpkin."Her tail snugs around your calf, squeezing gently.

There you stand, hands on her shoulders, the metronomic rustling of the brush marking the passing time.

In the mirror's reflection she smiles the uncertain half-smirk of the blossoming girl, and she says;"Good night, father."

>>15160258I beg your pardon? We are talking about a professional killer of sorts who gave up the only life-style he knew for the girl. She was his whole world. There is nothing holding the fury back now.

You laid on your bed your wrinkled hands folded neatly on your chest as your daughter now a woman braided the ends of your long flowing silver beard.

"You should have told me.""You wouldn't have understood.""I would have understood- FATHER.""Never."

She sighed and her breasts lifted with her chest. You had seen her grow up from a sweet little pea to a vine that wrapped around you in your old age.

"You understand now though- you're a good girl. "You've always been a good girl."

She gently clasped your hands and she begane to weep quietly."You've been the best father I could have ever asked for.." She trailed begane to trail off- you raised better then this."You're a dragon m'dear. A dragon."

>>15160235Thats actually really fucking tragic, this man gave up his life of adventure in an attempt to attone for murdering this girls parents and before he can tell her, she dies? I suppose if she lived well up until her death he might feel some relief in that she lived well and only he has to live with the knowledge of her parents death. Then again, what if she still remembered?

>>15160165>>15160171Yes it's a way out of a conflict, but it's a conflict the father would likely want to avoid as well.

How about I give the "merc friend tells her" scenario a start.

The man peered into the oven at his handiwork. Knowing how to cook is one thing, but if anyone else knew he was making pie (mincemeat, his daughter's favorite) he's be the laughingstock of every mercenary in the kingdom.

Cave Johnson here. Listen, we give so called "monsters" a bad rap. (Except goblins, those are dirty.) But with some hard work and the right values, even the strangest of creatures can grow up to be hardworking, taxable citizens. That's why we established this baby monster refuge. If you kill a bunch of monsters and find a baby, bam. No problem. We'll set 'em on the straight and narrow thanks to our three step program:

1. Re-evaluation.2. Re-education.3. Re-minding not to eat other people.

We aren't kidding about that goblin thing, by the way. Give them a knife and fork to eat with, they'll just jump you and ask for better meat. No thanks, kemo sabe, I want my neck to stay where it is.

I'd adopt the Said lamia, teach her the ways of the warrior and OFFER her to take her revenge on me, at one point for one rule.

She must utterly slaughter the target of my choosing, be it on battlefield or assasination. For every head, he gets a shot at the duel and his vengeance. Growing more bitter, indifferent by the end, until relializing one's his vastly superior physique finally overpowers my crippled old body years later, he notices the bittersweet taste of vengeance.

Bodyguard, friendly rival, student and someone out to kill me. Something to spice up one's life.

I'm gonna spit out one more before I fuck off- Everyone will remember iron lung instead of me anyway."Daddy, tell me the story of where I came from again- I like that story."You scratched your stubbled chin, nodded, and as your daughter reclined in your lap you oblidged:"I was stalking a hydra that had been terrorizing some rice paddies over the hills. I had tracked him to a nearby lagoon and was standing their with my axe-"Your daughter cuts you off and you both raise your hands and shout out "MMMM-BRUDKRLEISER""And I saw the hydra, and he saw me- I ran forward, slipped on a rock, my axe and my body spun out of control and I shredded his body! And from the shreddings popped up a wish granting cabbage." You nod "A wish granting cabbage and I wished for the most beautiful daughter in the world-and then I ate it."Your daughter tilt her head in cofusion, "Why did you eat it?"

You look down at her and grinned, "I thought I'd get a wish granting poop!"

Anyone have a craving for a Taken-style story? I sure do.Here's my feeble attempt.

He arrived home late that day, buying everything needed for the long winter at the last great market of the year. A small silver bracelet caught his eyes, and he enjoyed haggling for it, already seeing her gleeful surprise in his mind's eye. Walking back home, the arthritis paining him these last years almost gone, his steps had a spring to them they never had in his mercenary days.

Walking up the hill, the icy winds blew under his fur coat, heavy with the promise of snow. Yearning for the warmth of the hearth, he quickened his steps, stopping dead in his tracks as the house came into view.

The door was open. The dogs, usually eager to greet him nowwhere to be seen. Fear gripped his chest like a vice, his limbs suddenly numb. He broke into a run, shouting her name.

The first snowflake fell on the shining silver bracelet, laying forgotten in the short grass.

Parenting 101How to Handle your Lizardfork ChildrenIncludes chapter's like:*How to avoid broken ribs during playtime*How to explain serpentine anatomy*How to avoid punctured lungs when explaing puberty*How to explain why do you look so different*Education, public or private schools? Magic of physical training?*Human-Lamia friendly cuisine from a snakeling to a full grown lamia that you can eat.

>>15160643Because there's something appealing to the human psyche about the familiar-but-unknown. Half-animals are more or less tailor made for that. There's more to it than that, but think on this: why are mithra so popular? Same idea.

As a barbarian, I take care of the lamia child, teaching it some basic survival skills before dropping it off in some deep forest somewhere, with only the clothes on her back and a small axe and tell her to survive before leaving. I later return to the forest years later to see how it fared by itself.

It was a crisp autumn day and you find out your daughter had been kidnapped. You later found out it was by a few dwarfs who were interested in starting a whore cartel who reffered to you as, "That retired adventurer who sat in the woods coddling some Lamia bitch."

They did not Kidnap Brudkleiser.

BrudKleiser was your axe.

You sprinted through the woods and your Warg Skin cloaked waved behind you. Your Movement was fluid and focused- your cloak even as it fettered never tangled in a single branch.They must have thought they had covered their tracks but in your eyes every hint was as obvious as your daughters attempts to stuff her bra.

You found the Dwarfs.Your breath was heavy and angry.An animalistic anger that burned deep inside you that you could never abandon. Your Furry and hate were as much a part of you as your love for your daughter was.

Why are we all assuming we never told the kid before? Im chaotic neutral/good I probably would of mentioned it in passing or something.

Silence penetrated the grand hall as all eyes turned to the confrontation..."WHAT?!" was the shrill responce as the young daughter re-coiled away from her adoptive father, suprise clearly evidenced on her face."I murdered your family" was the blank faced responce from the father. "I know I told you this before... several times in fact...""I thought you were joking! you never said it under a truth spell!!!!"A look of utter confusion was fixed on the sorcerors face. "But I never lie. Sure I twisted the truth to my advantage, but I never actaully lied." Looking back his companions went over their memories and re-affirmed that statement.Items dropped to the floor as his companions remembered other things they passed off as jokes from him.They all took a step back, from him in utter terror and disgust."What? It's not like its a big secret or something. And you've all done a lot worse."The group sank to their knees as the comments he made and they dismissed grew a horrifying meaning for them.Curiously he wondered out loud "whats the big deal... are you guys starting to have regrets now or something?"Quietly the daughter asks him to stop talking. Confused and worried for her he does."Why?""Because you said you didn't want to be alone. So you weren't."

When I found out they love to snuggle, I had to buy one. He's adorable. I had a girlfriend wearing a collar and doing the cat thing, but sometimes she wanted to be more snakelike (getting the idea from my pet) and just sloooowly wrap around me, holding tight, nuzzling, et cetera.

"I don't know how much your uncle told you, so I might as well start from the beginning. I used to be a mercenary, you know that." She nodded, still unwilling to look him in the eye. "I did a lot of things for money. I killed people, sometimes innocent people. Occasionally, the things I did helped people, but that wasn't the reason I did it. I did it for the money. So, one day, when a village called us in to stop trade caravans from being attacked, we thought nothing of it. They told us a group of Lizardmen led by a trio of nagas were holed up in a castle near the village. We showed up ready for a fight. When we got there, the lizzardmen charged out and attacked us. We didn't stop to think, we just fought for our lives. We pushed all the way to the keep, where we found the leaders. They rushed us, and we..."

He buried his head in his hands. "We... fought, and they died. I, I'm sorry." The young lamia stared at him, anger welling up inside her. Then she noticed tears dripping from his hands. Never once had she seen her father cry. "I killed them. I did it, and you have every right to hate me, but... when I found you in that bed, I knew I couldn't leave you there to die."

He was silent for a while. "There's no way I can undo what I've done, and I have no right to ask for your forgiveness. I'll understand if you hate me, I just..." He trailled off, unable to finish his sentence. The only sound was the sound of his tears on the wooden floor.

The lamia placed a hand on his back. Her anger gone. Though it hurt, she still knew her father sill loved her.

The dwarfs were rather disturbed by your presence let alone your entrance- forcing your hands into the wood of the door then simply tearing it in half and walking in.The muscles in your body were taunt, your warm breath visible in the autumn night air, and your face still shrouded by the overlying hood of the Warg Pelt.

The dwarfs; three of them, reached for their weapons.You slowly extended your hand to BrudKleiser and time stopped while you surveyed the room with every sense that nature allowed you:The floor boards underneith your bare feet were creaked and a little aged, and the dwarf reaching for his crossbow had unsteady shivering hands. The door leading to the backroom was much sturdier then the one you had previously torn apart, you could smell the faint scent of your daughters feminane musk wafting from that door.

You decided and BrudKleiser decided as it was being unsheathed that this was a fine time to start bisecting and or tearing humanoids apart.

Given that I don't play in black-and-white settings, I take her along with me, try to avoid getting the tyke killed until I get to a place to raise her, preferably as a paladin or cleric, though I'd make sure people treated her well. By force, if I must. I won't give a shit if she tries to kill me when she gets older, I'll be either dead or too high-level to give a shit by the time she could hope to kill me as I am now, much less later.

>>15160574Just finishing this one up, need to polish up my minimal writefag skills for a game I'll be DM-ing soon.

She was gone. They took her.

The house was a mess, furniture overturned or broken all over. They killed the dogs, but they left three of their own behind as well. She fought back. His clever, brave little girl fought like he taught her. He lists against the wall, all stregth draining from his legs.

There is nothing he can do, nothing a man like Gerald Neimon could accomplish. Even weeping feels foolish. He glances at the shed he never let her go into, no matter how insistently she pleaded.

The first snow is already piling up, his footprints filling in quickly. His walk is faltering as he makes his way towards the small wooden outbuilding. A father steps in, a small man broken by grief.

The sun makes it's way towards the western horizon, uncaring. The woods start to fill with life, noisily preparing for the nigh. Everything goes still as a figure exits the shed, onyl the wind whistling mournfully.

It is a giant clad in armor, polished steel made smooth by years of use. In his hand is a battleaxe, larger than any man ought to wield. Gerald the Slayer, the Axe of Helitia smiles for the first time in two decades, and the world shudders in remembrance.

To the dwarfs it was over in under about 1 minute.To you however it went something like this:The first dwarf came at you with a knife looking to stab you in the hamstring: you shifted your body weight to your right foot, extended your leg, and embedded him into the floor with your foot.By this time Brudkleiser had been unsheathed and you had managed to let out one good "roar" before deflecting a bolt shot by the dwarf in the back.You then Swung BrudKleiser through the air and beheaded the second dwarf running at you with a shortsword. The edge sliced through his neck like a knife through cloth and the image of his trachea reflected on the blade before the blood could even stain it.The headless dwarven body kept on running and "bumped" into your chest before jiggling briefly and spouting blood all over you. The dwarf in the back fired a second bolt and you proceeded to knee the headless dwarf body up into the air: the body blocked the bolt, and slammed into the dwarf.

You then simply sheathed BrudKleiser, kicked the headless dwarf of the still living dwarf, reached down, grabbed the beard of both the living dwarf and the headless dwarfs head and bashed them together 'till they were both akin to oatmeal.

>You then simply sheathed BrudKleiser, kicked the headless dwarf of the still living dwarf, reached down, grabbed the beard of both the living dwarf and the headless dwarfs head and bashed them together 'till they were both akin to oatmeal.Sorry need to fix this what I ment to say was:

You then simply sheathed BrudKleiser, kicked the headless dwarf off of the still living dwarf, reached down, grabbed the beards of both the living dwarf and the beard of the headless dwarf's head and bashed them together 'till they were both akin to oatmeal.

I'm getting a little sleepy and I was never a very good writter to begin with.

You stood there and briefly inhaled then exhaled as three dwarf like corpses laid on the floor beneath you.

Your upper body was entirely covered in blood but that wasn't important right now.

With the door to the back swung open a buffet of chained up women who would become whores laid before you.

Your gaze quickly scanned the whore ladden room and focused on your daughter- an emerald star that shawn brightly in any crowd.

Her arms wrapped around your neck and her tears washed the dwarf blood off of you as her small cheek nuzzled against your face."I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm a bad girl, I've always been a bad girl, you were right and I was wrong and-"You silence your daughter as you cradle her in your taut muscular arms, "You're lucky BrudKleiser saw everything or I would have never been able to find you." She immidietly pouted and bashed her fists against your chest.

As you began to leave she pulled on your hood, "We're going to save all the other girls, right?"

He's blind in one eye as a direct result from the fight with the lamia-girl's actual parents. Maybe a lucky swing in the heat of the moment, or a split second there where one of the lamias had the upper hand and took full advantage or it.

Either way, the meaning comes in when he's reminded by his blind spot, which she's very pointedly in if the eye is actually non-functional. And she's been looking at the results of what happened for all these years, either ignoring it or unable to remember.

>>15161023The advantages are probably all going to depend on exactly which aspect of the snake-based-demi-human she comes from. A lot of them have a bundle of spell-like or supertnatural or psionic abilities, as well as high mental and physical stats plus the potential for class levels. Good stats all around allow for both 'caster and combatants, as well as some creative aspects of a thief-ish class. They'd probably lack mobility in terms of imidiate local area (having some trouble due to taking up several square meters) which would lead to a bigger target; this is deadly in a contemporary setting. Depending on the supernatural abilities available, this might not matter as much.

So, Yuan-Ti are the snakepeople at the back of MM1. The purebloods are basicly humans with a couple snake features, the half-bloods are scaled humanoids that are clearly not the average human, while the abomination mostly snake with arms and an obvious sentience (and a large size), so I'm going to guess somewhere between the latter two is where our mercinary's adopted daughter fits in. things like Entangle, Deeper darkness, baleful polymorph and suggestion cane be helpful. They can produce acid on grappled enemies, they can swim and constrict, and have a psionic ability that grants them +10 to hide checks, and psionic fear-inducing effect.

So, great ambush, but not going to last long in a tactical ranged fight on their own merrits.

>>15162640Next option would be the Naga. All of them gain levels as Sorcerers, which means that their combat effectiveness in a contemporary setting would depend on their spell-selection. If they go heavy on Transmutation and Evocation, they could be good demolition experts. If they aim for Conjuration and Divination, they could make good team-coordinators and local support troops. Necromancy could be great for field support if you're taking or incuring casualties, illusion as a field-control unit. Abjurations could be hillarious in current conflicts; immunity to fire damage and protection from projectiles would make IED's a joke, at least if used effectively.

Our subject probably isn't a Lillend, as they also have wings. For reference though, Lillends also get some bardic spells, and I believe they have a psionic version that would grant some telepathic psi-like abilities and either psion or wilder levels in place of bard.

One of the serpentine-humanoid-ish creatures that I don't think was considered above is the Marilith. Problem is, it's a demon, and probably either evil from the start or has more arms than mentioned above. Still though, a full grown one is CR 17 for a combination of asounding stats, spell like abilities, and the ability to summon more of itself.

>>15162640>turns out D&D's 3.5 monster manual says "Lamia" is actually a feline human mix akin to a sphinx, not a snake."Lamia" has referred to a few kinds of monster in mythology. In 4e they're made of beetles, with is less true to the myths than snake or cat. In 3.5 there's a noble lamia that's snakelike.

Yuan-ti halfbloods can look much like lamia (human+snake tail), it's just that the most common ones don't. There's variety within all three kinds, especially halfbloods.